Letter: Goldberg's Variation - 2003

Goldberg’s Variation
Letter to the Editor
Published in the Armenian Reporter International
August 23, 2003

Dear Editor:

Tuesday night (Aug. 12, 2003), I sat back before the TV set and selected Channel 21, WLIW, to watch in anticipation the special “Images of the Armenian Spirit” documentary. In just two minutes, I was soured by the narrator’s statement “King Dikran became King of Armenia 95 years Before the Common Era.” Before the Common Era, or B.C.E., is a euphemism for Before Christ or B.C., and is often used by those who do not wish to mention the name of Jesus Christ, despite the fact that the reckoning of the Common Era is based on the birth of Jesus Christ. The film went on to describe the heroic battles fought by the Armenians in defense of their Christian beliefs, which made the whole business grotesquely incongruous.

I think it unlikely that any Armenian worth his/her salt had anything to do with the editing of this film.

C.K. Garabed Teaneck, NJ